![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3bae5fa21f63eec1103497ea26ef24f57ba1c8f0.png\")
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March 22, 2026 \u2014 8:05pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Parramatta have taken a long sip from their \u201cschooner of reality\u201d and deserve credit for steadying their season, but if they dish up what they produced against St George Illawarra, Penrith will punish them in round four.<\/p>\n But Eels coach Jason Ryles might be searching for a few schooners after the win on Sunday afternoon was soured by confirmation J\u2019maine Hopgood has ruptured his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n Ryles said he did not believe the tackle that led to the injury \u2013 which looked like a hip-drop and resulted in a 10-minute sin bin for Ryan Couchman \u2013 was deliberate.<\/p>\n But to lose a forward for the season to an illegal tackle \u2013 one likely to sideline Couchman for some time \u2013 was a bitter blow.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really disappointing,\u201d Ryles said of Hopgood\u2019s injury. \u201cThose tackles, 99.9 per cent [of the time] the boys don\u2019t mean it, so it\u2019s not intentional. But unfortunately, you keep throwing fatigue into the game and you make them more tired \u2026 they happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Back-to-back wins have eased the sting of the Eels\u2019 52-4 round-one humiliation<\/a> at the hands of Melbourne, but there was little that was convincing about their scratchy 30-20 victory over the Dragons.<\/p>\n There won\u2019t be nearly as many pats on the back as there were after last week\u2019s stirring come-from-behind win over Brisbane<\/a>.<\/p>\n Halfback Mitchell Moses was resolute in defence, but the Eels\u2019 attack still lacks fluency, despite Tallyn Da Silva\u2019s outstanding two-try performance in what Ryles said was his best game for the club.<\/p>\n Five-eighth Jonah Pezet\u2019s kicking game, in particular, remains a work in progress. A better side would have put Parramatta to the sword \u2013 and Ryles would know it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to hang in there and found a way,\u201d Ryles said. \u201cIf you scrubbed everything and said you\u2019d be two and one, you\u2019d take it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll get confidence out of the fact that we\u2019ve found a way to hang in and win.\u201d<\/p>\n Penrith won both clashes against the Eels last season, by eight and 22 points respectively, and form suggests they could cover that again when the sides meet at CommBank Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n While Parramatta have built a reputation for ambushing heavyweight opponents, Penrith\u2019s 40-4 dismantling of the Roosters<\/a> offers little encouragement for the blue and gold.<\/p>\n The Eels would argue they are building towards their best football since their 2022 grand final appearance, but the gap between them and the competition\u2019s elite still appears significant.<\/p>\n If Parramatta are to force their way back into the top eight for the first time since 2022, it will hinge on their middle forwards \u2013 an area exposed by Melbourne in round one and again shaky early against the Dragons.<\/p>\n Jack Williams missed a costly tackle to allow Luciano Leilua to score close to the posts, while Jaydn Su\u2019A sliced through a gap between Pezet and Kitione Kautoga.<\/p>\n \u201cMitchell\u2019s experience helps and Dylan Walker\u2019s experience helps \u2026 but our line does get broken a little bit quite too easily,\u201d Ryles said. \u201cThat\u2019s more of a concentration thing, as opposed to a technical or a tactical thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dragons finished 15th last year and won a third of their games, which you\u2019d have to say is about the line for this season.<\/p>\n Related Article There was a touch of Usain Bolt about Josh Addo-Carr as he surged away for the 72nd minute match-winner at the northern end of CommBank Stadium \u2013 not so much in top speed, but in the acceleration, long stride and quiet certainty that Dragons halfback Daniel Atkinson was never going to reel him in.<\/p>\n Parramatta hooker Ryley Smith, who racked up a game-high 50 tackles, implored the home crowd for a lift as the Eels repelled a sustained Dragons raid with 15 minutes remaining. It spoke to a growing resilience, but their challenge will be reproducing it consistently \u2013 particularly through the middle.<\/p>\n Moses\u2019 class remains their greatest weapon, but against Penrith, it won\u2019t be enough on its own.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge challenge this week,\u201d Ryles said. \u201cPenrith\u2019s been doing what they\u2019ve been doing for six or seven years now, so it\u2019s going to be a great test.\u201d<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Dragons](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/36d4def01fd76ec1522994af49d6946cc20e540a.jpeg\")
Dragons forward Ryan Couchman was sin-binned for this hip-drop tackle on J\u2019maine Hopgood.NRL Photos<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/7142f133e57044f5f57b86268d114381155bb658.jpeg\")
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Tom Decent<\/a> is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 22, 2026 \u2014 8:05pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-556791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}